The Effect of Reading Strategy Instruction on Thai EFL Adult Learners’ Reading Strategy Awareness

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to determine the possible effect of the implementation of reading strategy instruction on Thai EFL adult learners’ reading strategy awareness. A total of 113 postgraduate students taking a remedial reading course responded to the pre- and post-adapted version of Survey of Reading Strategies (SORS) (Mokhtari & Sheorey, 2002) by Zhang and Wu (2009). After the students’ existing reading strategy awareness was determined, they were explicitly taught reading comprehension strategies using a course book titled Ready to Read More: A Skills-based Reader for one semester (14 three-hour sessions). Right after the strategy training, the students’ awareness of reading strategies was determined again. Analysis of the data collected consisted of descriptive statistics comparing mean scores of the 28 reading strategies in the pre- and post-SORS. The t-tests for non-independent samples were then utilized to see if there was a significant difference between the mean scores of each individual reading strategy.  The findings indicated that 23 out of 28 reading strategies were found significantly different.  Descriptive statistics were also used to compare the mean scores of the three categories of reading strategies in the pre- and post-SORS (global, problem-solving and support reading strategies) and the overall mean scores. As a whole, the results show a marked improvement in the students’ reading strategy awareness of the overall reading strategies and the overall reading strategies of the three categories. The findings revealed that the one-semester implementation of reading strategy instruction could raise Thai EFL adult learners’ awareness of reading strategies. The findings of the study have pedagogical implications for teachers in the realm of EFL reading strategy instruction. To help Thai EFL adult learners to become independent readers, teachers should provide them with explicit reading strategy instruction. As this study demonstrates, Thai EFL adult learners benefit from receiving a direct explanation of strategies; thus, teaching them reading comprehension strategies explicitly is a key for success.